Spain Calls for Time to Decide as Business Group Urges Bailout

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said the government needs time to decide whether to take a bailout as the nation’s business lobby urged the government to accept help.

“This is a decision that can’t be made without considering all the elements,” Saenz told reporters after a Cabinet meeting in Madrid. “It’s an issue on which the future of the country and many Spaniards depends.”

Saenz called for “prudence” after Arturo Fernandez, the vice chairman of business lobby CEOE, called on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to decide quickly. He said in an interview with Cope radio that “time is running out” as the nation is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Rajoy declined to comment on European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s proposal to buy bonds of cash-strapped nations on the condition they make a formal request for aid from the euro region’s government-run rescue funds.

Rajoy, who denied Spain would need a bailout for its banks two weeks before seeking one in June, was meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel as Draghi unveiled his plan.